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London 2012: Malaysia's golden boy still hunting for titles

Friday, June 29, 2012 - Badminton Association of Malaysia

His aim is to win the nation's elusive gold medal. And Lee Chong Wei has his heart set on being on the podium at the Wembley Arena come August 5, singing the Negaraku, the Malaysian national anthem on the top of his voice.

That is his dream, his childhood ambition, winning the gold medal means more than anything else in the world.

It almost became undone, a freak injury to his ankle almost put paid to his appearance at the London Olympic Games. But he has preserved and despite many writing off his chances, Chong Wei prefers to look at the brightside of life.

"Maybe the injury is a blessing in disguise for it has somewhat eased the pressure. Many are skeptical about my chances at the Olympics. And frankly it does not bother me one bit as I know what it takes to win the elusive gold medal for Malaysia. I intend to put every ounce of effort in order to bag the gold, that is my vow to the fans," said Chong Wei at a media luncheon he hosted at Stadium Juara.

"I am slowly regaining my fitness and form. Though the phobia factor is still at the back of my head, I hope to utilise the next one month to overcome this. More importantly my form is coming back and in terms of preparation lets say that I am at almost 70% of what I am when I am normal. Let us hope that I will continue to progress in rehabilitation and put up a display that will make the nation proud."

Chong Wei said that London will be his last attempt to win honours at the Olympics and has ruled himself out of making another attempt, should he fail, in Brazil in 2016.

"At times we cannot win everything. Not all are fortunate to win major events. For example Peter Gade has yet to win the Olympics, Taufik Hidayat has never won the All England. Only Lin Dan has achieved everything. As for me I will take another shot at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Thomas Cup and the Asian Games before calling it quits," conceded Chong Wei.

The world number one also made an impassionate plea to the members of the Malaysian media present at the function which was also attended by BAM Secretary Ng Chin Chai, BAM General Manager Kenny Ng, coaches Tey Seu Bock, Rashid Sidek, Jeremy Gan, Tan Kim Her and Pang Cheh Chiang as well as NSI's Col (R) Wong Ah Jit.

"My idea of hosting this lunch is to meet the media and also to thank them for all your support towards badminton. Let us all work together to ensure that Malaysian badminton delivers the desired results at London. We as players and officials cannot do it alone and need the support of the media. You all have been wonderful all these years and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the positive reports and hope you continue to support Malaysian badminton," said Chong Wei in paying tribute to the Malaysian media.